Plant · P-181

Ramps

Allium tricoccum

Ramps (wild leek) are a spring ephemeral of eastern North American hardwood forests, pushing up through last year's leaf litter on the rich, shaded, moist woodland floor before the tree canopy closes overhead. The bulbs taste like a cross between onion and garlic and are dug in earliest spring, while the leaves are milder, closer to leek. It grows painfully slowly - a seed can take two years just to sprout, and a plant needs five to seven years before it's ready to harvest - so wild populations have been overharvested across its range, and conservation groups recommend buying nursery-propagated stock rather than digging plants from the wild.